Rushatharan’s parents Ashok and Kalaivani Asok, who flew from their home in Sri Lanka to be by their son’s bedside, said: “We would like to thank the doctors who saved our son’s life. We will be forever grateful to them.

“We would also like to thank the police and everyone in the community for helping us. We had nothing and knew no one when we arrived from Sri Lanka, it was very scary and we were told our son would die. We are so grateful to everyone who prayed for him.

“Rushatharan came to England to study and to make a better life for himself. His life has now been changed forever and he will always need to be cared for.

“It is good to know the man who did this cannot hurt anyone else, but we get no satisfaction from the court result. This will affect our family for the rest of our lives.”